Crew Briefings

[RtrCFI]

Tonight there was a fatal EMS crash about 50 miles NW of Oklahoma City. It wasn't but a couple of weeks ago I was sitting on the skid of that very helicopter talking to one of the pilots. My thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the crew.

 

I always react to these crashes the same way, by trying to find holes in my procedures and asking what I might be letting slip by in complacency. So, I am turning to you folks to help me with crew briefings. (Not suggesting that was a factor tonight.) I would appreciate any input, whether you are an EMS operator or not, as to what you do (or do not) cover in crew briefings. The more thorough the better. This can be pre-shift, pre-flight, post-flight, etc. No stone unturned.

 

In case anyone is interested, I will post whatever final product I turn out. Thanks

[Pohi]

Tonight there was a fatal EMS crash about 50 miles NW of Oklahoma City. It wasn't but a couple of weeks ago I was sitting on the skid of that very helicopter talking to one of the pilots. My thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the crew.

 

I always react to these crashes the same way, by trying to find holes in my procedures and asking what I might be letting slip by in complacency. So, I am turning to you folks to help me with crew briefings. (Not suggesting that was a factor tonight.) I would appreciate any input, whether you are an EMS operator or not, as to what you do (or do not) cover in crew briefings. The more thorough the better. This can be pre-shift, pre-flight, post-flight, etc. No stone unturned.

 

In case anyone is interested, I will post whatever final product I turn out. Thanks

 

This is from the FAA.gov website.

AC121-24C.pdf

[Pohi]

From the Commercial Pilot PTS

 

Briefs the occupants on the use of safety belts, shoulder harnesses, doors, rotor blade avoidance, and emergency procedures.

 

From the ATP PTS

 

The majority of aviation accidents and incidents are due to resource management failures by the pilot/crew; fewer are due to technical failures. Each applicant shall give a crew briefing before each takeoff/departure and approach/landing. If the operator or aircraft manufacturer has not specified a briefing, the briefing shall cover the appropriate items, such as runway, SID/STAR/IAP, power settings, speeds, abnormals or emergency prior to or after takeoff, emergency return intentions, missed approach procedures, FAF, altitude at FAF, initial rate of descent, DH/MDA, time to missed approach, and what is expected of the other crewmembers during the takeoff/SID and approach/landing. If the first takeoff/departure and approach/landing briefings are satisfactory, the examiner may allow the applicant to brief only the changes, during the remainder of the flight.

 

 

Probably not exactly what you were looking for, but some things to think about in composing your own briefing.

[kodoz]

I think it goes all the way back to even training flights. There was a post some time ago (I'll let the OP raise it if they want) about a training flight where they finished some instrument maneuvers they'd planned early, and the student decided they he wanted to practice something else (autos I think) during the remaining block. Didn't go as planned.

 

Since reading that post, on the training flights I've done as student or instructor, I've written out what we're doing for the flight and tape it to my knee board. We do a quick pre-flight brief of those maneuvers (like configuration, clearing procedures, etc), then go do them. When we're done, we go in. Seems like this would be a good idea regardless of the operation--reduces complacency and sets expectations for the crew.

 

There's also an incident report in Fatal Traps where workers were being transported on and off a ship that had run aground. The day of the incident, the pre-flight briefing was skipped, even tho one of the crew members was new to the operation (he said he'd been briefed about loading procedures during a previous job). The procedure for leaving the ship was for one passenger to load, allow the pilot to adjust for CG, then the next passenger to load. The new worker didn't know he needed to allow the pilot to reposition the AC, and jumped onto the skid after the first passenger loaded. Resulted in a dynamic rollover that killed one or two of the other passengers waiting to board.